Apparatus for impregnating wood.



No. 644,252. Patented Feb. 27, |900. G. F. LEBIDDA. APPARATUS FOB IMPREGNATING WOOD.

(Application filed Oct. 5, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 644,252. haunted Feb. 27, |900. K e. F. LEBlonA.

APPARATUS FUR IMPREGNATING WOOD.

' (Appuemqn med occ. s, m99.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NITRD STATES PATENT Fries.

GEORG FRIEDRICH LEBIODA, OF BOULOGNE, FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR IIVIPREGNATING \NOOD.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,252, dated February 27, 1900.

Application filed October 5, 1899.

T0 LZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORG FRIEDRICH LE- BIODA, a subject of the King of Prussia, German Emperor, residing at the city of Boulogne-sur-Seine, in the Republic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Impregnating Long Pieces of Wood, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is an apparatus for impregnating long pieces of wood.

The new`apparatus comprises a vessel or cylinder having two ends or covers provided with a number of cylinders. Within the latter are adjustably arranged hollow cylinders with inserted plates which are provided with perforations. The latter are surrounded by annular sharp-edged bosses or, cutters, which hold the tree-trunks or long pieces of wood and facilitate the penetration of the impregnating fluid. As impregnating iiuids may be applied, first, cold or warm water, eitherpure or mixed with suitable additions in order to expel the natural sap from the Wood and to ripen the wood; second, coloring substances of suitable composition for artificially coloring the wood;v third, antiseptic or the like substances, which render the fermenting substances in the wood non-deleterious, and thus prevent putrefaction, and which protect the'wood against the attacks of worms and insects; fourth, fire-resisting substances for protecting the wood from destruction by fire, an d, fifth, other suitable liquid or gaseous substances which are suitable for treating tree-trunks or longpieces of wood. l

Relating to the drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure l is a longitudinal section; Fig. 2, an end view; Fig.l 3, a vertical section on the line AB of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a vertical section on the line C D of Fig. l.

The apparatus consists of a vessel or cylinder a, which rests in a horizontal position on a suitable frame. This cylinder a is provided at each end with a iiange for receiving a cover g. In the interior of the cylinder l there is arranged a steam-worm b, which all lows of the liquid in the interior of the vessel being heated. Three slide bars or rails o for the rollers d of a wagon-frame e, which car- Serial No. 732,704. (No model.)

ries the wood, are also provided in the center of thecylinder a. The two covers or ends g are connected with the cylinder ct by means of hinges h and may be firmly connected with the annular flanges of the cylinder by means of hinged bolts i, while india-rubber rings or washer-rings la, of metal or other suitable material, further secure an air-tight joint. Each cover g is in the present example of construction provided with four cylinders Z. These cylinders are extended into the form of tubes m, in which there are arranged spindles t, provided at one end with a screwthread. The spindles t, which are provided with hand-wheels c, are tted tightly toward the outer end through stuing-boxes n, while the end provided with the screw-thread engages in a lining-block u, so that by rotating the hand-wheel@ in one direction or the other suitable movement of the spindles t takes place. The spindles t have a collar or head to engage in the ends of hollow cylinders o, which exactly fit in the cylinders Z. The walls of' the cylinders 0 are provided with openings s and the ends with openings f for the inlet and outlet of the liquid. The cylinders o are provided with a flange or projecting edge x, which is arranged, on the one hand, to receive plates p and, lon the other hand, to engage in washer-grooves y, formed in the covers g. The plates p,which are preferably formed of steel, are in the present form of construction each provided with six perforations q, which in turn are surrounded by annular sharp -edged bosses r. The sharp edges or cutters f/'have for their object to penetrate the ends of the wood to be treated, and to thus render possible both a secure holding fast of the wood and a thorough joint at the admission and discharge places.

Instead of the four cylinders 0 shown, each having six perforations q, other proportions may of course, according to requirements, be selected. Also with an equal number of cylinders by using other plates 4p a great variety may be obtained.

The wood to be treated is preferably placed in framework-wagons in the manner shown in Fig. 4, the compartments of which correspond exactly with the arrangement and number of the openings g.

IOO

rlhe vessel a is provided on its periphery with a tap e* for the admission of the impregnating liquid and a tap l for the discharge of the same, a safety-valve 2, a tap 3 for attaching a high-pressure pump, a manometer 4, a tap 5 for admitting steam to the worm b, and a tap 6 for discharging the same. A thermometer 7 for indicating the temperature of the liquid contained in the vessel is also provided, and, finally, also each cylinder Z is provided with a discharge-tap 8, through which the liquid passing through the opening f can escape.

The operation and mode of working of the apparatus hereinbefore described are as follows: The spindles ton the right side are rst rotated, by means of the hand-wheels, so far backward that an air-tight joint between the flange a: and the annular groove y is formed. One of the covers or ends g is then opened, while the other remains air-tightly screwed on the apparatus. The framework-wagon, loaded with wood, is then run in. The apparatus is then closed by means of the hinged bolts t', and on this side the hollow cylinders o are pushed so far forward that the cutters r engage in the wood. The taps 8 on the. right side are then opened and all the other taps closed except the inlet-tap a. As may be seen from Fig. l, the openings s of the cylinders o on the right side are closed, While the openings s of the cylinders o on the left-hand side are open and are in communication with the interior of the cylinder a. lf the liquid be then allowed to enter through the tap e' and the tap 3 be opened after the tap z has been closed, the liquid under the action of the pressure can only penetrate the wood from the left-hand side in the longitudinal direction of the fibers. As the liquid, which is under high pressure, finds no other exit except through the wood, it will penetrate the wood very soon to its entire length and enter the cylinders o' on the right-hand side, from which it escapes through the openings f and the taps S'. The liquid is preferably pumped from the tap 8- again, by means of a pressure-pump, into the cylinder. After the liquid has penetrated the wood from left to right it may also be caused toiiow from right to left. For this object the taps 8: on the right-hand side are closed and those on the left-hand side opened. B-y operating the hand-wheels o the left-hand-side cylinders o are drawn back and the right-handside cylinders pushed forward until a thoroughly-tight joint between the iianges .fr and the annular groove y on the left-hand side of the apparatus is effected. In this manner the direction of the impregnating liquid may be changed without diminishing for a moment the degree of high pressure in the apparatus. This change of direction is very advantageous and in some casesfor instance, when colors are used-even absolutely necessary, because otherwise one end of a trunk would easily be more strongly colored than the other. The

change of direction is, however, preferably even in impregnating, because the respective operations proceed very rapidly,and with such a change of direction impregnation is considerably more regular. When the impregnation has been completed, the high-pressure pump is shut oif, taps 8 are, closed, and the tap 1 opened with the object of entirely emptying the cylinder. The cover is then opened by the hinge-bolts, and the framework-wagon, with the :finished treated wood, is drawn out of the apparatus. The operation hereinbefore described is then repeated.

The method of impregnating hereinbefore described allows of a perfect or complete and extremely-rapid treatment of the hardest and freshest woods of thick diameter. The impregnation takes place with a constant flow through the Wood, and the liquid is forced to take its course through the wood in the direction of the bers. Consequently the necessary quantity of impregnating substance can be deposited in the wood. The great advantages which this improved apparatus aiords over all apparatuses hitherto known are as follows:

First. The wood is not merely impregnating on the surface, but to its heart or to the core of the wood.

Second. The treatment ofwhole trunks of thick diameter and of any length is rendered possible.

Third. The impregnating of the wood may' take place whether it be fresh or dry.

Fourth. The impregnating is effected with extraordinary speed.

In a very few hours freshly-felled hard treetrunks-such, for instance, as stone-oaks;- may be converted into a wood entirely freed from natural sap and ready for being worked immediately. In an hour whole tree-trunks may receive an excellent and complete coloring. In fifteen minutes railway-sleepers of fir or beech and in twenty-five minutes those of oak-Wood may beimpregnated. In equally short periods of time- Whole stems or smaller Ioo IIO

pieces of wood may be impregnated with fireresisting substances, and thus rendered proof against the attack of the strongest lire.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. An apparatus for impregnating tree-- trunks or lengthy pieces of wood, comprising a vessel or cylinder a having two ends or covers g provided with a number of cylindrical extensions e in which there are adj ustably arranged hollow cylinders o having inserted plates p provided with a number of perforations q surrounded by annular sharp-edged bosses or cutters fr' with the obj ect of enabling tree-trunks or long pieces of wood to be held fast between the perforated plates p and of facilitating the penetration of the impregnating fiuid in the direction of the fibers substantially as horeinbefore described.

2. In apparatus described for impregnating s, while the openings f communicate with taps wood, the combination of the adjustable hol- 8 substantially as hereinbefore described. ro low cylinders o with openings such as s and In witness whereof I have hereunto set my f, and with projecting lianges adapted to hand in presence of two witnesses.

5 engage corresponding annular grooves y pro- GEORG FRIEDRICH LEBIODA.

vided in the ends g of the main cylinder,where Witnesses: by the hollow cylinders o may be closed tightly EDWARD P. MACLEAN,

against the said ends g to shut the openings JoH-N SEXTON ABERCROMBIE. 

